April 12, 2003
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On the final day of the Sea Ray Relays, the South Carolina Gamecocks garnered six wins and 16 top-10 finishes while Chelsea Hammond and Kemesha Whitmire set personal records in the long jump. Carolina continued to rack up the qualifiers as nine set qualifying marks for the NCAA Regional Championships. Over the weekend, South Carolina witnessed 10 first place finishes, 41 top-10 finishes, and 31 qualifying marks while sprinter Aleen Bailey and Hammond were awarded the Tony Wilson Trophy as they were named the Most Outstanding Track and Field athletes of the meet, respectively.
Senior All-American Aleen Bailey became the first female track athlete and the second athlete overall to win the Tony Wilson Trophy for the second consecutive year. Yesterday Bailey won the 100m (11.40) and 200m (23.19) dashes for the second time in as many years while also anchoring the victorious 4x100m and 4x200m relay teams today. Her marks in the 100m and 200m dash were qualifying marks. South Carolina won the 4x100m relay for the second straight year as Bailey and her relay team of Erica Whipple, Miki Barber, and Alexis Joyce set a qualifying mark of 44.00, besting last year’s winning time of 44.33. In the 4x200m relay, Bailey and her squad of Joyce, Lashinda Demus, and Khalilah Carpenter easily won that race with a time of 1:34.05.
Hammond was named the Tony Wilson Trophy winner as she recorded a personal record mark of 20′ 7.25″ as she won the long jump and placed fourth in the high jump with a mark of 5′ 7.75″. Hammond also ran the third leg of the victorious shuttle hurdle relay as she and her team of Antoinette Wilks, Shevon Stoddart, and Lashinda Demus easily won the race with a time of 55.10, a full two seconds ahead of second place Eastern Michigan. This is the second straight year South Carolina has won the women’s shuttle hurdles at the Sea Ray Relays. Kemesha Whitmire finished a strong second to Hammond in the long jump as she set a person best mark with a jump of 20′ 7″.
The men’s 4x100m relay squad, consisting of Shamus Singletary, Corey Taylor, Clint Crenshaw, and Martin Jackson, placed a close second with a NCAA Qualifying time of 40.44.
In the women’s 4x400m relay, it was Carolina alumni athletes pitted against current Carolina athletes with the alums pulling out the victory. The Speed Elite team of Tacita Bass, Lisa Barber, Mechelle Lewis and Demetria Washington (all former Gamecocks on last year’s national championship team) won the relay with a time of 3:32.55, edging the current Gamecock squad of Shevon Stoddart, Demus, Carpenter, and Tawana Watkins who recorded a time of 3:33.30 to place second.
The men’s 4x400m relay saw the Gamecocks take another top billing as the relay team of Otis Harris, Otukile Lekote, Jonathan Fortenberrry, and Kenneth Ferguson won with a time of 3:04.94. In the men’s sprint medley, Thomas Lewis, Aaron Luster, Otukile Lekote, and William Emase finished in a close second with a time of 3:19.82.
The men’s shuttle hurdle group, led by Kenneth Ferguson, Fred Townsend, Charles Ryan, and Corey Taylor, finished a close second to Tennessee with a time of 55.23.
The women’s distance medley relay team of Boikhutso Ramomene, Khalilah Carpenter, Tawana Watkins, and Jenny Lake placed fifth with a time of 11:46.98.
Scott Alsup placed eighth in the men’s javelin competition with a mark of 191′ 0″. In the men’s pole vault, Chris Steddum placed fourth with a qualifying mark of 16′ 11″.
Finishing eighth in the women’s shot put was India Odum with a NCAA Qualifying mark of 49′ 6.25″.
Greig Cryer placed fourth in the men’s long jump with a mark of 24′ 3.75″, a NCAA Qualifying mark.
The Garnet and Black now have a week off as they will next compete at the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Penn. on April 24-26.
